Engineering Insider

Flawed and Dangerous – Why safety is the number one priority

Safety is paramount on mine sites with mining companies seeking alternative solutions to outdated, flawed and dangerous equipment to avoid injury for their staff and contractors.

At Australian Diversified Engineering equipment is made to the highest quality, and one company that has implemented a custom designed solution is Downer.

Downer appraoched ADE in 2013 after the immense pressure from a grease fitting dislodged a service persons safety glasses and hard hat resulting in injury to their right eye.

We sat down with the team from Downer and researched all aspects of protective equipment used within the company, the safety measures put in place, and the actions of the workers. We found the protective gear normally used was not effective enough, and the standard process of removing the hose from a greasing nipple in the case of a blockage was intrinsically flawed and dangerous.

As safety is a number one priority on mine sites and within our organisation, we designed an effective, customised solution – the Remote Grease Pressure Release System. The system removes the hazard of the pressure from the hose.

The benefits of the system are:

It retrofits to existing grease systems

Releases pressure to the High Pressure Grease System

Releases pressure to the High Volume Grease System

Is compatible with hydraulic and pneumatic grease pumps

Can be installed on mobile service vehicles or in the workshop

Has a wireless transmitter for remote grease pressure release

Features system indicator lights

Operates on 24V DC operating voltage

Since completion, Downer has installed the Remote Grease Pressure Release System to their entire fleet of service vehicles.

The game-changing impact of the device was also recognised by the Queensland Mining Health and Safety Conference when the potentially life-saving invention was awarded Highly Commended at the conference’s Innovation Awards.